I was looking through Isadora Morales Chavez's stuff for ACC and I noticed that dialogue shows that apparently Bob's been under Scrooge's employ for about eight years (since I doubt they raised his salary back from when he first started)
And that does imply that Bob was there for about a year before Marley passed away! I always like the idea that Bob held that selfsame anxiety when it comes to money that Scrooge had because of his father, the only difference being that his family helped and supported him through it. I like to think that Bob knew who took his father to debtor's prison and he probably was *very* relieved when old Marley passed away-
Gosh, every time I see Isadora's art for "Scrooge", I just fall in love with this 2D/lineart style of her scenes. She did such a good job conveying cartoony antics with beautiful gestures and expressions. Honestly, stunning work.
Ooooh, so this idea has been percolating for a few days, and I have thoughts:
Eight years is a nice chunk of time. Obviously working long-term with one employer was much more common in the recent past than in present day, but it's still impressive. And the fact that it's stated that Scrooge didn't raise his salary for SEVEN years is ... sad. Insane and sad. I know people had done the thing where they've apparently adjusted for inflation and looked at Bob's salary and said 'Scrooge was more fair than a lot of corporations' but I think there's another interesting angle here.
First, imagine seven years working alone for Scrooge. Pre-redemption Scrooge. It makes me think ... we see Scrooge and Marley's office when Marley was alive. It was definitely an office, but nothing like what we see seven years later. No towers of ledgers, no floor-to-ceiling shelves. We see how tiny Scrooge writes in those ledgers, line by line. We never see the office before Marley dies, only when Scrooge is in his youth. (I'd headcanon Scrooge as being early 20s in the flashbacks with Isabel, so let's say our man in 28 by the time he's a partner). And 2022-verse Scrooge is supposed be be in his 40s (allegedly). You're telling me in that in 15-20 years, the office filled up with so many ledgers that they overflowed into his personal home? With only one man and a clerk doing most of the work for those years? That's terrifying, but believable BECAUSE ...
Considering Marley's failing health, Scrooge would have been the main decision maker at the firm for the majority of the 1830s, when The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 was created and cracked down on people experiencing impoverished living. If you were poor, you went to a workhouse. (I think of the 1984 film when the family decides that staying under a bridge is better than going to a workhouse, because per the new law, conditions were required to be terrible to discourage poor people from relying on 'welfare.') Food and jobs were scarce. Finding unskilled work? Easy. Skilled clerical work? Another story entirely (or so I've heard). And yet, "Scrooge & Marley's" firm came out okay. They escaped with a notorious reputation, but this also probably explains why Bob Cratchit tolerated the treatment for as long as he did. During this period, there were no other jobs, and if his family went to a poorhouse? Permanent separation or death would essentially be guaranteed. "Why doesn't Cratchit leave?" If he did, would in all likelihood condemn his family. It's happened to many others, hence all the people asking the very wealthy Ebenezer Scrooge for donations for the "very busy" and "all very full" poorhouses.
All those ledgers mean the firm was BUSY with Scrooge at the helm. The man was a skinflint, but hey, it was work. (And at least he didn't skim any off the top like the other cat-cats on the era. He lived worse than Bob, and without a wife and kids, he really had no reason to jump into crazy consumption any time of the year, especially Christmas). It was back-breaking work, but work. Which prevented starvation, a horrible fate for anyone any where, but an especially symbolic cultural phobia of the Victorians.
And this all FINALLY comes back around to your original good point: the anxiety Bob must feel working for Marley. Imagine the only work you can find is with the guy who basically ruined your father's business?
I do imagine he's relieved when Marley's gone, in a way. He may even feel some hope. 'Maybe things will be different.' It takes a while, but they do eventually change! And I do think Bob (while obviously fearing Scrooge) does seem ... sympathetic. Not as much as Harry/Fred or Tim, but more than the other 98% of characters. Bob seems to get it, at least. He can see through the veneer and see someone who has bee molded into who he is because of the harshness of life. It's not an excuse, or course, but there's sometimes comfort to be found in knowing how terrible things happen instead of letting them stay mysteries.
I love the characters in this novella. They're so neat.
I read a short but interesting JSTOR article on this topic and enjoyed how the concept of starvation shaped Christmas lore. She brings up the Cratchit family feast, of course, and it makes me realize that Bob's father being a baker was also probably a very intentional choice.
Dare I say, food for thought.
